I dig the midseason tournament, though I withhold the right to recant once I see the whole format
I don't dig the midseason tournament, though I withhold the right to recant once I see the whole format. Here's what I'd like to see.
Time: I've seen different reasons to do the tournament centered around increasing interest in the regular season. If that's the goal, it would be best to do the tournament before Christmas Day which isn't really midseason. A November tournament clashes with the heart of NFL and college football season as well. If they did want to do midseason at an ideal time for TV, it would be best to do it after the Super Bowl. But then it would be right before the All-Star break anyway and after the midpoint of the season. Between Christmas Day and the Super Bowl means the NBA tournament would run alongside the CFP and NFL Playoffs. I think it should be all at once over 12-14 days. Sprinkling pool games into the regular season would minimize the excitement.
Location: I've seen that it will be a neutral site for the Final Four, but this should be an opportunity for fans outside the area to see legit NBA basketball. I'd put every game except the Final Four at mid-size to large markets that don't have an NBA team like Tampa, Raleigh, and Baltimore. Pool play would be three sets of back to back games in one city in three nights at 8 sites. The round of 16 would be 3 games each at 4 sites or 6 games each at 2 sites. That gives 10 or 11 host cities. I'm sure they'd want to put Final Four at an enclosed football stadium and those are mostly in NBA cities anyway.
Format: I'd like to see 32 teams, 8 pools. 30 NBA teams + preferably 2 top international teams or if that doesn't work the top 2 G-League teams or G-League West and East all-stars. That would add some real cinderellas into the mix.
Seeding: Top 8 teams by record randomly slotted into spot A, next 8 teams randomly slotted into spot B, next 8 into slot C, bottom 6 and other two teams into slot D for 8 pools. Top 2 in each pool advance to single-elimination.
Prize: Tradable #15 pick in the upcoming draft (the first round would now have 31 picks). $10M per player on the championship team. Regular game checks for everyone else. Winner takes all.